DAB+ tests have taken place on an experimental ensemble in Brighton. The BBC has announced that it will conduct tests of DAB+ during 2014. Ofcom has announced that broadcasters on a forthcoming second national commercial multiplex will be free to use DAB+ if they wish, subject to a maximum of 30% of the ensemble's capacity. Generally, however, broadcasting in the UK still uses "original-flavour" DAB transmitted in Band III. A "tick mark" is to be launched this year as a marketing tool to signify receivers that meet a certain minimum specification. DAB+ capability is expected to be one of the requirements for the tick mark. Wohnort recommends, now more than ever, that you should consider buying a receiver that is DAB+ capable even if you never plan to take it out of the country with you. Such a receiver should also be more future-proof than one which only receives DAB.

Allotment:
G__60004 England II
G__60032 Isle of Man II
G__60022 Northern Ireland II
G__60012 Scotland II
G__60005 Wales II
Block 11A: 216.928 MHz
The ensemble is intended to cover the whole of the UK, plus the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, subject to international co-ordination. Block 11A is allocated (although not currently in use) for ensembles in Normandy and on the Belgian coast. This will impact upon the coverage achievable in East Anglia, in Kent and along the southern coast of the UK. There is currently no allotment for the Channel Islands. Up to 30% of the available capacity may be used for DAB+ services. Ofcom expects to make a licence award in early 2015.

Operator:
Ofcom has received two applications for the D2 licence (in alphabetical order)

Ofcom awarded the second national commercial DAB licence to 4 Digital Group Limited, a consortium of Channel 4 Radio, Sky News Radio, Emap Digital Radio, UTV Radio (GB), The Carphone Warehouse Group and UBC Media Group. However, the multiplex never made it to air and the licence was formally handed back to Ofcom on January 30th 2009. Ofcom has yet to make an announcement about the future use of the capacity on the multiplex.

The broadcasts consisted of changing multiplex re-configurations to assist in the development and evaluation of receivers and future services. These transmissions ceased at the beginning of December 2009.

This ensemble ran regularly-repeating multiplex re-configurations to assist in the development and evaluation of receivers and future services, similar to the Block LC ensemble now used by Arqiva. The DRAFFT tests have now ceased.

The former Radio Authority produced a map of Digital Licence Areas showing, respectively, the areas on-air, awarded and pending award. Also shown were those not yet advertised and areas not yet scheduled for advertisement. Although much of the detail has changed, this is still an essential download.

The following ensembles also cover all or parts of this transmission area:-

Although the regional ensembles in England and Wales are scheduled to cease on various dates in 2013/14, Switch Digital have confirmed that there is no similar plan for Central Scotland.

Central Scotland

C191

3

REALRADIO

3

BBCRNanG..

3

XFM

3

Central

3

Test

I

TII

09.04.2014

Central Scotland

C191

3

HeartScotland

3

BBCRNanG..

3

XFM

3

Central

3

Eklipse

I

TII

17.05.2014

Central Scotland

C191

3

BBCRNanG..

3

XFM

3

Central

3

Eklipse

3

talkSPO..

3

Gaydio

I

TII

19.07.2014

Central Scotland

C191

3

BBCRNanG..

3

XFM

3

Central

3

Eklipse

3

talkSPO..

I

TII

24.10.2014

Central Scotland

C191

3

BBCRNanG..

3

XFM

3

Central

3

RockSport

3

talkSPO..

I

TII

23.02.2015

103.1 Central FM

C0C3

80 kbit/s

Mono

Pop Music

BBC RNanGaidheal

C336

128 kbit/s

Joint Stereo

Varied Speech

RockSport Radio

CDCF

80 kbit/s

Mono

No PTy

talkSPORT Scot

C5CE

64 kbit/s

Mono LSF

Sport

XFM

C886

128 kbit/s

Joint Stereo

Rock Music

Source: Observations, 23.02.2015

Central Scotland 2

Block 12C: 227.360 MHz
Allotment: G_50045 Central Scotland II
Operator: There is a frequency allocation for a second regional ensemble for Central Scotland, but this has not yet scheduled for advertisement.
Sites:
On-Air:

Ofcom has confirmed that the licence for the Yorkshire regional ensemble will expire on June 29th, 2015.

Yorkshire

C1A8

3

Capital

3

Heart

3

REALRADIO

3

Gold

3

UCBIns..

3

UCB Gos..

3

XFM

3

RealRadio XS

3

RadioYorkshire

I

TII

02.05.2014

Yorkshire

C1A8

3

Capital

3

HeartYorkshire

3

Gold

3

UCBIns..

3

UCB Gos..

3

XFM

3

RadioYorkshire

3

SmoothRadio

I

TII

26.11.2014

There is no capacity reserved for BBC services. BBC local radio in the region is already allocated capacity on the respective local ensembles, except for BBC Radio York, whose area is not yet covered by a local digital multiplex.